Bullying via Vinted

[Weareoutofwine]

I've just seen quite a sad listing pop up on my Vinted feed. A photo of a school girl, blurry looking distressed in her school uniform. Clearly taken without permission. It has been listed as an item for sale - with what is likely her first name on it.

The 'seller' is based in a UK town and follows other sellers in said town. The sellers other items for sale suggest a teenage girl. I've reported it to Vinted - though there wasnt really a clear category that the report could fall into.

It makes me so so frustrated and sad that if a tool can be used for bullying
it is.

48 people have 'liked' the post in the space of it being up (v short time). Really despicable behaviour and suggests a targeted approach against the young girl. I don't really know why I'm posting this - just that I feel so upset for the girl, and so powerless. Bullying is rife and tech just seems so easy to use to inflict further visible humiliation and pain.

Muppets think having a child (human) for sale on their website needs further review🙄

Dear user
If you use this site to place an ad offering humans for sale. You, your ad and all personal data will be reported to the police for investigation of criminal activity under human trafficing legislation.

Data protection breaches may also get a quicker reply and force Vinted to update their systems

Commissioner's Office (ICO), use [email protected] for general complaints and casework or [email protected]

Excellent idea - re holding data and data requirements.

A % of turnover fine can be a great reason to review "things which put my bonus at risk"

Thank you so much for reporting. Lots of people talk, few take action.

Well done for being proactive on this. I think NSPCC do a lot on cyber bullying etc so may be worth cc’ing them when you contact your MP. Agree that any tool can be exploited for ill intent but it’s infuriating when platforms are so lax. They’re certainly quick to take down images that might infringe copyright, because they are afraid of consequences. Should be the same on allowing their platform to be used for bullying.

Excellent idea - will forward email to NSPCC.

I’m genuinely curious why you have such faith in the police?

People self police what’s reported to the police all the time, precisely because the police self police what they investigate. If the OP’s MP is engaged on cyber crime they will understand how impossible it can be to get police interested (and what limited powers they have in any case).

i’d have thought government noise and negative media is more likely to get Vinted interested than a police enquiry that they can ignore because they’re based outside the UK. And that’s even assuming the police take any notice - far from guaranteed.

There’s also reports of this and other misuse of Vinted on Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/vinted/comments/1g3empg/inappropriate_pictures_on_a_12yos_vinted_profile/

At the least, Vinted are not enforcing their own Ts and Cs and therefore are risking their reputation.

Completely agree with your post.

Also try your local MP. These platforms need to be more proactive in removing this content.

I got a response back from vinted about the one I reported.

We’ve received your report but couldn’t take action to discipline the account because it needs a further review. Thank you for reporting this - you’re helping make Vinted a community where everyone can feel safe. Although we haven’t taken action against this member, you can block them so they’re no longer part of your Vinted experience.

agree with vinted being useless.

It would be pretty easy for them to go hard on this - block the seller's profile and send them a message saying their details (which if they've ever bought anything will include their full name and address) have been referred to the police in relation to a potential crime (quoting specific Acts).

If they are kids doing it to bully others that might scare them off even if the police don't actually take any action.

I don’t. As someone who’s reported a crime caught on CCTV, knew and disclosed who committed said crime, and had the police response be simply - they said it wasn’t them, they seem like a nice person. I know first hand they don’t. But I still passionately believe we should all continue to report crimes regardless of whether the police solve them. And I believe this because I’m sick of hearing that ‘x crime has been reduced’ when the reality doesn’t match that. It’s almost a rebellion. But also, I do believe that something involving children at risk (whether it’s bullying or not) we all have a responsibility to ensure the police are notified. And I also support following up with the MP, sharing the crime number to ensure it’s not just another statistic. Otherwise the police tell the MP’s they’re doing a smashing job.

Well done OP, please do email the school. It must have been very hard to see that image, poor girl 😥

You're amazing!!!!! Thank you.

Just had another message from Vinted to say they've taken actions to discipline the poster I reported, for violating community standards.